Cardinal-designate Joseph Tobin was been named the Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey by Pope Francis. Currently serving as Archbishop of Indianapolis, Tobin, 64, was a surprise choice to become cardinal when Pope Francis named him last month.
A Redemptorist, Tobin served at inner city parishes in Detroit and Chicago before working at the Redemptorist curia in Rome, eventually serving as Superior General of the order from 1997 until 2009. In 2010, he was named an archbishop and appointed to the Congregation for Religious. There he tangled with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over the latter’s doctrinal investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the US. His transfer to Indianapolis in 2012 was widely viewed as his being exiled from Rome.
The transfer of a soon-to-be cardinal is unprecedented. The decision to send Tobin to Newark was being made, with the nuncio drawing up a terna, and the Congregation for Bishops evaluating the suggested names, along one track when Pope Francis, operating on a different track, decided to name Tobin a cardinal. It was unlikely a cardinal would be left in Indianapolis, which has fewer than a quarter of a million Catholics. Some Church observers thought Tobin might be brought to Washington, D.C. in a couple of years to replace Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who will be 76 later this month. The Vatican chose to move Tobin now.
In 2011, Cardinal Angelo Scola was transferred from Venice to Milan, the only somewhat similar such switch in recent years. In both cases, the needs of the larger diocese seemed to justify breaking precedent. In the case of the Tobin transfer, it shows how thin the US bench of bishops is: few bishops are capable of undertaking a diverse archdiocese like Newark and exercising the kind of pastoral leadership Pope Francis has called for, especially among the bishops of the Northeast US.
Newark has never had a cardinal at the helm previously. The city sits across the Hudson River from its more populous and more famous neighbor, New York City, which has had a cardinal since Archbishop John McCloskey was named America’s first cardinal in 1875. New York’s current archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, is widely viewed as being more sympathetic to the culture warrior wing of the Catholic Church in the United States. The two cities are in the same media market, and Dolan will now share the spotlight with a cardinal who is one of Pope Francis’ most prominent defenders.
The Archdiocese of Newark is home to some 1.3 million Catholics, served by 488 active diocesan clergy, 131 religious priests, and 853 women religious. The archdiocese owns Seton Hall University, one of the nation’s top Catholic schools. Tobin will replace Archbishop John Myers whose 16 year tenure was mired by charges he mishandled clergy sex abuse charges and his decision to build a lavish retirement home for himself in recent years.
Pope Francis has spoken repeatedly about the need for the Church to go to "the peripheries". In America, the peripheries are found most obviously in the inner cities. The Archdiocese of Newark includes some of the wealthiest and some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country. Additionally, Newark is one of the most ethnically and racially diverse cities in the the US Cardinal designate Tobin will be expected to revivify the civic engagement Pope Francis has called for but which has lagged under Myers.
Loading ...
